noun(pluralsphinxesorsphinges)Etymology: Latin, from Greek Sphinx, SphixDate: 15th century1.a.capitalized a winged female monster in Greek mythology having a woman's head and a lion's body and noted for killing anyone unable to answer its riddle
b. an enigmatic or mysterious person <

she is a sphinx whose features hold a blank fascination

>2. an ancient Egyptian image in the form of a recumbent lion having a man's head, a ram's head, or a hawk's head
• sphinxlikeadjective

Sphinx — Sphinx, n. [L., from Gr. sfi gx, usually derived from sfi ggein to bind tight or together, as if the Throttler.] 1. (a) In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Sphinx — the Sphinx a) also the Great Sphinx a large, very ancient sphinx which is close to the Pyramids of El Giza in Egypt and is visited by many tourists b) in Greek ↑mythology, a creature with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. She lay… … Dictionary of contemporary English